old times
by ameriboo
Summary: Ash Ketchum travels to his beginning and sits fireside by the friends who were there from the start. —Ash, Misty & Brock


**disclaimer: I don't own anything but love for these children.**

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 **Things worth living for: seeing friends you haven't seen in a long time.**

Beyond boundaries, beyond time and space, he finds himself back home.

Alola is paradise but Kanto is where his journey began. He returns to his place of birth alongside a set of bright eyed friends, a sea of joyful smiles all because they are stepping down on new soil. But for Ash, its soil that he grew from.

They ask him about details of what it's like to be from a place so far away but it's hard. He attempts to describe what it's like to grow up in place completely different than their region but he cannot find it within himself to describe something strangely personal to him. Instead he finds pride in their excitement and in his fashion, he promises them a home cooked meal courtesy of his mom which makes Mallow, Lillie, Lana, Kiawe and Sophocles pumped for exotic food.

Kanto is traditional while Alola is adolescent; Kanto is a steaming cup of brewed green tea while Alola is shaved ice of a hundred different flavors.

Ash's memories of eating takoyaki during the Summer festivals in yukatas and running barefoot across his town's grass fields are vivid in his mind but they don't often come up when people ask him what home is like.

That first shock from Pikachu took an everlasting impact on him but he couldn't explain what it was to begin your adventure in such a place. Where humble beginnings don't limit your chances at adventure, where urban and rural life are alive in their own way, where people recognize him as a small-town boy of the country, where his accent is common and understood. Those that know him see him running and running away from his origins, his home but Ash takes it with him. He takes his loved ones with him wherever he goes.

Brock's recipes, Ash's favorite ones, are kept in a notebook he carries.

Misty's handkerchief, now a duller pink, is delicate and has a place in his back pocket for safe keeping.

The calls between them are not as frequent and sometimes his postcards get lost in the mail but they share an unspeakable language together, all three of them. There is understanding that distance doesn't kill their friendship, that when life is less hectic and they are able to breath away from their dreams and aspirations, they can meet once again. Upon arrival at the airport, they do.

In a flash, there is already a proposal coming from a young man with hearts in his eyes. Then a joyful Pikachu shudders with excitement upon seeing a familiar face as she accepts his hug with open arms.

His friends meet him and walk towards him with large smiles.

Ash feels like he was taken back to the start.

"Let me introduce you to my friends. We traveled together once."

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The three Kanto natives settle by a campfire as their Alolan friends let the night take them.

Ash knew that everyone would get along but he did not expect his mates to admire Brock and Misty so quickly. It made him proud.

Hanging out on warm nights outside Professor Oak's lab was familiar for the trio. It gave them a sense of nostalgia. The softer times spent after a long day on the open road, where they all took of their sweaty shoes and unwind by the warm light. It was circled around fires where some of their most happy and sad times were shared.

It was by a fire that Ash told Brock and Misty how after becoming a Master he wishes to renovate his mother's home for her. Give her bigger space, updated appliances not from the thrift store. Both and Misty reacted with giving Ash large hugs as he blushed with embarrassment.

It was by a fire that Brock spoke about how dearly he wants to be a father and be involved in his children's lives with a woman he loves from the sun and back, to never not support them or leave them behind like his mother did to them. His younger pseudo-siblings assured him how he would be the world's greatest dad even if it takes a long, long time to meet his future wife. They teased him lightheartedly, fully assured that someone would be lucky to have someone as special as Brock.

It was by a fire that Misty cried in front of them for the first time as she told them the disheartening story of how her parents left her with his sisters in an act of selfish, selfish love. How her mother, a former Kanto beauty queen, was someone Misty could never rely on. Her mother was cold and angry all at once and Misty hasn't seen her since she was nine years old. The boys understood a new part of her that night.

There were no tears now, only smiles and reminiscing. The subjects change rapidly between the trio. They discuss Team Rocket and how Ash has a conspiracy that they are a gang of immortal demigods of chaos that cannot be injured. They giggle together over romantic encounters they've all personally had, some more awkward than others. They talk about all of their pokémon, old and new, and their progress.

Ash was itching in his seat as Misty mentioned the new battling arena they installed in her gym.

"I can't believe tomorrow morning we're going to Cerulean," Ash says, drawing some ugly doodles into the dirt. "Man, it's been such a long time."

"Hey now that's your fault, you were invited way before the renovations were finished," Misty smiles proudly as she tickled Pikachu's cheek.

Brock hands them both mugs of hot cider that he bought for the occasion. Ash and Misty love it because its Brock and his caring, almost psychic nature knows exactly what people love. "Remember how long it took your sisters to pick out the right kind of tile? I'm surprised you turned to murder."

"I was so, so very close to. The day that I came back home to find designer chairs costing over 50,000 pokedollars, Tracey had to constrain me from drowning Daisy in the pool. We watched extreme renovations shows every day for months, Ash. _Months_."

"I bet it looks amazing. I haven't been to a gym in such a long time. How are the battles?"

"Each and everyone is so different," she replies earnestly, stretching her legs out. "People come in with pokémon I can't even recognize to the point that it's hard to keep up sometimes. But I communicate with a lot of trainers, ask them where they are from and learn about their pokémon. I think of it as my own way to travel for now."

Ash blinks, visually impressed by her logic.

"That's…really cool of you, Misty."

"Gee thanks," she snorts, lightly knocking their shoulders together. "A compliment coming from the _coolest_ guy in the universe." Ash doesn't say it out loud but Misty teasing him, after all this time, makes him kind of happy. He knows it's one of the ways she connects with people because as much as she wants to say he is emotionally constipated, she is not much different than him. Two stubborn kids who understood each other in some ways, despite their obvious differences.

Pikachu settles in between them, letting sleep take over him. They all smile at the cute sight and settle into the quiet. The three of them sip on their cider. They sit back, letting the crackle of the fire fill the comfortable silence shared by them.

"I missed this," Ash says, staring contently at the fire as the smoke travels throughout the air.

Brock laughs, "You get to camp outside all the time."

"Yeah way to rub it in, Ketchum."

The trainer shakes his head. "I mean, I miss _this_. Home. My mom, Pallet, you guys-we've seen a lot of things together, I've traveled a lot and it's all amazing but…."

"But?"

"Nothing is quite like here," Ash lets out a shaky, happy breath. "Like the time I was in Kalos and we stopped by this place that said they had traditional Kanto style noodles. I was so excited because it was so long since I had them and then they were _sweet_. They didn't even have bamboo shoots, Brock. Who does that?"

Brock gasps, slightly horrified. "Who even does that?"

"Tragic," Misty deadpans. "But noodles aside, I think it's comforting to hear you being homesick. A while ago, I thought that it was impossible for you to ever miss home…. but then I realized you internalize a lot more than the average person."

"What do you mean by that, Misty?"

She looks up at the sky.

"That you are somewhat emotionally constipated."

"Hey!"

Without skipping a beat, Misty continues. "But what I mean to say is that no matter where you are or who you are with, you will always have someone thinking of you. And Kanto will be here when you are ready, whenever that is. You may not get to eat your mother's cooking every day or the three of us may not get to adventure together again for a long time but at the end it's all going to be worth it."

He blinks at his old friend, seeing the fire cast a shadow on her face in a way he hasn't seen in years. Ash swallows the lump stuck in his throat.

"I…I want us to, eventually. Travel together in the future, maybe for a month or so but I want that for us. When you're a water master and Brock is a renowned doctor and I get to be where I need to be."

"Let's do it," Brock says, his hand placed on his chest. "It's not unattainable, we've gotten this far and it's a promise we can look forward to. We can go somewhere new or travel through Kanto again, take a different route."

"Kalos would be amazing," Misty interjects.

"Or Alola! You guys would love it. They have these things called malasadas and they are crazy good."

"Are they sweet?"

"They have them in like, five different flavors."

"Hmmm," Brock nods, "Interesting, continue."

Eventually the fire died and their limbs grew sour as they made their way back home. The three of them walk towards the Ketchum house down the dimly lit unpaved road, in a row, like they use to do back on their travels. For a moment, they were younger and it did not feel like Ash would be back in Alola in two days. It didn't feel like Brock had midterms in a week or that Misty had to file paperwork for the league by the end of the month. Ash doesn't say it but he pretends its them on the road once more, heading towards the next town.

Wherever their dreams took them, going down different paths and various directions, they had a bond that was hard to break. All the times that they've been through together, and all the times Ash has gone through life alone, he was sure that they will always be his best friends.

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 **notes: ash, misty and brock reunited and it was beautiful and all i needed in life. hope you liked my cheesy story about friendship!**


End file.
